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African American nursing faculty: where are they?
1Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, USA.
Summary
African American nursing faculty are underrepresented, making up only 6.6% of the workforce. This highlights a critical need to understand and address barriers to increasing diversity in nursing academia.
Area of Science:
- Nursing Education
- Health Workforce Diversity
- Academic Careers
Background:
- African American nursing faculty are significantly underrepresented in higher education.
- A 2002 National League for Nursing (NLN) report revealed only 6.6% of nursing faculty were African American, compared to 91.0% Caucasian.
- Existing literature examines reasons for this disparity, including career choices and employment termination.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the scarcity of African American nursing faculty.
- To synthesize existing research on barriers and recruitment strategies.
- To inform initiatives aimed at enhancing diversity in nursing academia.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of published studies on African American nursing faculty.
- Analysis of National League for Nursing (NLN) faculty census data from 2002.
- Synthesis of research exploring recruitment, retention, and career progression.
Main Results:
- African American representation among nursing faculty is critically low (6.6% in 2002).
- Multiple factors contribute to the underrepresentation, including challenges in academic career choices and retention.
- Research has explored geographical distribution and recruitment strategies.
Conclusions:
- Urgent need for targeted strategies to recruit and retain African American nursing faculty.
- Addressing systemic barriers is essential for achieving greater diversity in nursing education.
- Further research is needed to develop effective interventions to increase representation.